Serbian swordsman demands interpreter

A SERBIAN swordsman who represented himself in much of his bail proceedings in March, claimed yesterday, on the day his trial was due to start, that he now needed an interpreter.

This after the flamboyant Goran Lepojevic, 50, of Mount Croix, spent much of the morning pacing the corridors of the Port Elizabeth Magistrate's Court, ranting and raving – in English – about conspiracy theories.

His behaviour drew the attention of passers-by, who slowly gathered to stare.

During his drawn-out bail application earlier this year, similar rantings from Lepojevic forced the court eventually to halt proceedings and invoke the unusual Section 77 1A of the Criminal Procedure Act, which compels an accused to make use of Legal Aid representation. Lepojevic asked the magistrate to recuse herself because he felt she was biased.

His new lawyer, Louis Erasmus, could be heard yesterday trying in vain to calm him down.

Lepojevic is accused of assaulting his estranged wife's cousin, Kevin Ireland, with a wooden sword at his Mackay Street, Richmond Hill, home on February 12. - Kathryn Kimberley